Wakefield City Council discusses policies

The Wakefield City Council discusses the spillway gate project at its meeting Monday evening. Pictured are, from left, council member Joseph DelFavero, Richard Bolen and Bob Blaskowski, mayor Les Schneck and council member Ted Finco.

WAKEFIELD - The Wakefield City Council discussed the policy for closing the city offices at Monday evening's meeting.

The city closed its offices early last week due to the severe cold temperatures. This brought to light its absence of a closure policy.

Council member Richard Bolen suggested mayor Les Schneck meet with member Joseph DelFavero, who requested this issue be addressed, at a later time to discuss a policy.

This motion was accepted by the council.

The council also discussed the spillway gate replacement project. It approved a budget increase of $5,592.66 to complete repairs, including a safety platform.

"I'm glad we got this done and if it takes more money," Bolen said, "we need to do that."

The council agreed to withdraw from its contract with Great Lakes Utilities, due to unanticipated high costs.

Electric department foreman John Granato said this withdrawal would not affect the GLU wind project due to separate contracts.

The city will be removed from GLU by the end of January.

The council also approved an agreement for the prices of township services, which includes a 3 percent increase in prices for 2014-15 and another 3 percent increase in 2015-16. Services to the township include fire protection, library, park, cemetery and street lights.

It approved the re-appointment of two members on the planning commission, Rod Ritter and Donald Luoma, whose terms expired on Dec. 31. Their terms will now expire on Dec. 31, 2016.

The council discussed campground revenue for last year, which was slightly less than the 2012 season, about $42,507.

City manager John Siira said the city staff will make an effort to restore funding to test beach water in the western Upper Peninsula, specifically the Sunday Lake beach, for bacteria.